Free Thinkers Needed! Now More Than Ever….
Having a certain high level conscious awareness around how we evaluate the information we receive is greater than ever. We have easier access to more information than ever before in history. This is a great and necessary freedom, but the increased consumption demands an equivalent increase in intellectual responsibility. I’d argue this may be where we should up our game! While writing this post, I’m envisioning a Warning Label reading something like, “Consumption of this information without proper evaluation may lead to health problems”...
It seems as though proper evaluation leads to personal growth while improper consumption has the opposite effect. Adequate assessment of information is a book topic, but awareness in these two key areas is crucial to being Mentally Jacked:
Open-Mindedness
We all naturally have a different propensity toward free thought and different levels of those qualities like open-mindedness and skepticism. I believe that striving to increase maturity in these areas is a personal obligation toward truth. We should spend time entertaining the philosophies we disagree with while psychologically distancing ourselves from preconceived notions. We need to test the validity of information like a science experiment, impartial to any outcome.
Confirmation Bias
We must be aware of our negative tendency toward confirmation bias. We seem to lead ourselves toward sources of information that only confirm what we already believe. This happens from where we choose to get our information and is reinforced by social media algorithms designed to drive consumer behavior patterns. Don’t be the product!
To combat our natural tendency toward confirmation bias, we try spending an equal amount of time studying a perspective contrary to what we currently believe.
The need for a concerted effort toward free thought is essential. It’s in free thinking where exploration and personal growth occur. In this forum, we’ll be attempting to put our egos aside in pursuit of truth and, ultimately, light.
Welcome to the arena where you can join us and contribute.
Stay Mentally Jacked!
Zach Slade
